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THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONGRESS
A BRIEF HISTORY
In the fall of 1918, leaders of
the American Jewish community convened in the historic Independence
Hall in Philadelphia for the first American Jewish Congress. Rabbi
Stephen Wise, U.S. Supreme Court Justices Louis Brandeis, Felix
Frankfurter, and others, laid the groundwork for a national
Democratic organization calling for equal rights for all Americans
regardless of race, religion or national ancestry.
Throughout its history, AJCongress
has been at the forefront of the struggle for social justice and
human rights. The American Jewish Congress was the first
organization in the United States to recognize the virulence of the
Nazi threat. Within weeks of Hitler’s rise to power in 1933,
AJCongress held a huge protest rally in New York City and created a
million dollar defense fund to rescue orphaned Jewish children and
launched a worldwide boycott against the Nazi regime.
Israel
- Since the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, AJCongress has
worked to preserve the Jewish homeland and the rights of its people
to live in security and peace. The organization is actively
supportive of all initiatives for peace. The AJCongress Conference
of Mayors in Jerusalem brings together over 80 medium and small city
mayors from around the world to Israel to meet with their Israeli
counterparts.
Religious Freedom
- AJCongress has developed a national reputation for using
legislation and litigation to defend the constitutional guarantees
of religious freedom and separation of church and state. AJCongress
has sponsored test cases, appeared as amicus curiae, helped
establish human rights commissions and drafted anti-bias statutes to
aid African-Americans, Native Americans, Jews and other minorities.
AJCongress has also been a national leader in the fight against
discrimination in the areas of housing, education and employment on
behalf of all minorities and continues to work closely with
minorities and religious groups.
Women’s Issues
- The American Jewish Congress has maintained a strong commitment to
women’s rights, and has been a leading advocate of extending full
parity for women in this country and abroad. In 1987, AJCongress
convened the first Jewish Feminist Conference in Israel, a landmark
event for Jewish women from across the globe.
We remain committed to maintaining
a leadership role in human rights and social justice issues. |
